Fence-wire stretcher



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

I; 0;, BURGETT] FENCE WIRESTRET-UHBR.

No. 264,923.. Patented Sept. 26, 1882.

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L0; BURGETT.

IBNOE-WIRE STRETGHER. No. 264,923. PatentedSept 26, 1882;

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FENCE WIRE STRETGHER.

No. 264,923. Patented Sept. 26, 1882.

UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE,

ISAIAH U. BURGETT, OF SOUTH ELGIN, ILLINOIS.

FENCE-WIRE STRETCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentNo. 264,923, dated September 26, 1882.

' Application filed June 30, 1882. (No model.)

. [0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ISAIAH O. BURGETT, of South Elgin,in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fence-Wire Stretchers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention consists in'a special construction and in certain details of apparatus for facilitating the stretching of the wires in putting up wire fences, and in novel means for attaching the apparatus to a fence-post, all which will be'elear from the following description.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus applied to a post and ready for use, and Fig. 1* afragmentarydetail in elevation; Fig. 2, a plan of the bed-plate and of its sliding clamp; Fig. 3, a perspective of the sliding rack, and showing the groove and pintle on its under side; Fig. 4, one of the double-acting levers. Fig. 5 is a perspective view the re verse of Fig. 1.

A is a bed or base for supporting all of the operative devices, and itis made integral with a strong fixed jaw, 12, having a series of suitable teeth, o, for gripping a post, with a long guide bar or arm, at, for supporting the movable sliding jaw e, which clasps the flanged side f of said projection or arm, and which is made with a pawl, g, for engaging with the teeth of a stationary rack,.h, made in the flanged side f. The sliding jaw elasps the flange loosely enough to permit the pawl g to engage and disengage with the teeth, as may be needed.

The sliding jaw has one or more threaded holesyi i, madethrough it, adapted for a threaded thumb-screw,j, and whereby,when the clamp is applied to a post or other stationary article and the jaw 6 moved up to it the thumb-screw, (or thumb-screws, if desired,) being turned, will tighten the clamp and draw the teeth 0 into the post and hold the whole structure firmly. v

The bed or base A is also provided with a support or platform, It, for the sliding rack L, and has two uprights or ears, in m, in which are holes or bearings for the fulcrum or axis of the working-lever N. These uprights serve also as a guide or passage-way for the rack L, which moves between them, and an upright wall or ledge, O, on the bed also serves to keep this rack in line. 7 a

A pintle or pin, p, on the under side of the bed A, receives a lever, having on it a double eccentric or cam, q, between either of the two opposite cams or swells of which a fence-wire may be clamped and held tightly against a ledge, r, on the under side of the bed. The sliding rack L has a similar pin, 8, at one ofits ends, to receive a similar double eccentric lever, 75, for clamping and holding a fence-wire against a ledge, t.

The under side of rack L is grooved to admit the wire and keep it covered, and this is very important, especially when the wire is barbed, as is now customary, because the operator is thus protected from needless contact with the wire or with the barbs. Both wires, it will be observed, can pass under the apparatus-one under the sliding rack and one under the bed and beneath the rack-and yet both in about the same vertical plane, so that in the act of stretching the wire or wires need not be strained or distorted materially, if at all, out of line.

The pawl-lever N, which operates the sliderack, has two pawls, a and 12, one on each side of its fulcrum, and when the lever is in working position the longer pawl engages with a tooth from one to six or more teeth in advance of the shorter pawl, and the rack may thus be moved very rapidly or very gradually, dependent on the amount of slack wire to be taken up, and every movement of the lever,whether forward or backward,can drive the rack in the same direction; and by swinging the lever far enough backward to release both pawls from the rack the latter may be at once slid back as far as desired. By reason of the double eccentricsor double cams s or t a strand. of wire may be held by either of them,whether the strain or pull of the wire be in one direction or its opposite direction, as by turning the le-- ver of the cam in one direction it will lock the wire against a given pull, and by turning it in the other direction it will lock against a contrary or opposite pull. These levers should be secured to the machine by rivets, on which they can be turned, and the pintles or pins 1) and s, after receiving the levers, serve as such rivets by having their ends headed.

The apparatus may be made of any suitable metal or material, but malleable iron is preferred.

. The clamping-edges of the double eccentrics are made plain or toothless. This avoids the indentingor bending or weakening of the fencewire by the pressure of such teeth.

I avoid the use of pinions, wheels, chains, and cords, and many other appliances needed in other wire-stretchers.

Recesses w on the frame A permit the slidingjaw e to be applied to or removed from the frame.

What I claim as my invention in apparatus for stretching fence-wires is-- 1. A post-clamping frame having integral therewith a series of fixed teeth for clamping .a post, a bed to support a sliding rack, standguides to the rack.

2. The bed A, made integral with its toothed jaw b and with the flanged arm 01, rack-teeth h, platform 7c, and uprights mm, as shown and described.

3. The combination, with the bed A, made as shown and described, of the slidingjaw e and its pawl g, made integral therewith, and thumb-screw j, as and for the purposes set forth.

4. In combination with a base or bed on the post-clamp, the sliding rack L, provided with ratchet-teeth, and the lever N, provided with the pawls u and o, as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The sliding rack L, grooved on its under side to afford a covering for the wire between it and the bed, and provided with a doubleacting eccentric, t, as and for the purposes described.

6. In combination with the-post-clamping plate provided with the double eccentric or double cam q, and a ledge, r, theslide-rack L, provided with a double eccentric or double cam, t, and with a ledge, t, as and for the purposes set forth.

. ISAIAH (J. BURGETT.

Witnesses:

C. P. BOGUE, FRANK. P. SHEPHERD. 

